EU VOTING RULES: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has described as "sensible" Germany's wish to reweight EU voting based on population size ahead of today's visit to Dublin by the Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder.
Mr Ahern tells today's Der Spiegel magazine that he has made clear to leaders of Spain and Poland, who favour retaining the Nice voting rules, that Germany's position is a priority.
"Schröder's position is sensible.
"The fact is that Germany has a large population, Germany makes a large contribution to the EU - and that must be reflected in the voting system," he said.
Mr Ahern said the key to a compromise lay in accepting the double-majority principle and then meeting opponents half-way on the details.
That is the position emerging from Berlin: last week Mr Joschka Fischer, the foreign minister, said he saw "some possibility to adjust" the double-majority system to "the different interests".
"Of course there is possibility that one could meet halfway on the double-majority issue," said an official in the Chancellery yesterday, adding that there might be room for negotiation on the percentage of population required to pass a decision. Berlin wants the bar set at 60 per cent.
"If you seek a compromise you have to be prepared to give in on certain points," said the official. "However, the double-majority itself must remain. For Germany it is an really important issue."
Today's visit comes after Mr Schröder announced his resignation last Friday as chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He called it a difficult but necessary step to silence internal party critics who say Mr Schröder's reforms betray the party's social democratic roots and its core voters.
"It wasn't easy, not even for me," said Mr Schröder to Der Spiegel. "It would have been violating my oath of office to ignore the enormous pressure to act." The decision was spurred by the SPD's slump in the polls to just 24 per cent support ahead of 14 crucial state and regional elections this year.
Mr Schröder was roasted by the media for his decision to hand over the party reins to the SPD parliamentary leader, Mr Franz Münterfering, a close ally who enjoys much greater support among the SPD's powerful left-wing and grassroots.
"It was the wrong decision," said the centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
"Schröder has either to stay completely or go completely."
Just one in five Germans believes Mr Schröder's resignation will solve the SPD's problems, according to a poll for RTL television.